An Indian Army Captain and three security personnel laid down their lives in an encounter with militants in Doda on Tuesday.
Captain Brajesh Thapa hailed from Darjeeling, Nayak D Rajesh from Andhra Pradesh, Sepoy Brijendra from Jhunjhunu in Rajasthan and Ajay Singh had sustained grievous gunshot wounds in a gun battle with militants but sadly injuries were fatal and they could not be saved.
The bodies of the martyrs were flown to their native places.
Shaken rudely by the news of her son’s martyrdom mother of Captain Brajesh Thapa, Neelima, tried to put up a brave face saying she was proud of him.
Who will fight for the country if we don’t send our sons to the border, she spoke with a voice choked with emotions of irreparable loss.
Defence Minister Raj Nath Singh after talking to the Army Chief, General Upendra Dwivedi said, the entire country stands with the families of the brave soldiers who laid down their lives in the line of duty for the country.
Father of Captain Brajesh Thapa, Colonel Retd Bhuvnesh Thapa reacted by saying his son had laid down his life for the sake of the country but he was sad that they would not be able to meet him again.
According to reports, Rashtriya Rifles and Jammu-Kashmir police had jointly launched an operation after being tipped off about the presence of militants in Desa forest nearly 55 km away.
After a 20-minute encounter at around 7.45 pm Monday evening, the militants tried to escape but they positioned themselves at a place from where they could easily target the approaching force.
The moment the security personnel reached close by, militants rained a hail of bullets resulting in serious gunshot injuries to them.